ATTACK OF THE VAMPIRE NINJA OF THE YAKUZA
by BLAKKSTONE
Summary: The Punisher and some unexpected allies take on a new and bloodthirsty crime syndicate. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: The Punisher is owned by Marvel Comics.**_

_**Author's Note: This takes place after HUNTERS AND KILLERS. **_

_**Continuity Note: I totally disregard HOUSE OF M, CIVIL WAR, THE INITIATIVE…Don't looks for references of that here. **_

_**Enjoy…Hopefully.**_

**ATTACK OF THE VAMPIRE NINJA OF THE YAKUZA: A PUNISHER FANFIC**

On a rooftop near The Docks

New York City

Midnight

Albanian gangsters.

The Punisher had heard from his many sources-on both sides of the law-that the Albanian mob was going to unload some heavy duty merchandise. Heroin. Weapons, maybe, more likely.

Ever since the big gang war from a year before, the New York Crime scene has been in disarray. When some Russian mooks hired some hardcore muscle to take over the city, the streets ran with blood. With the warring organized crime outfits and the Punisher-along with some allies-getting involved, most gangs in all the borrows took heavy casualties.

And so did the cops, after the Russians blew up One Police Plaza, thus killing hundreds of cops and feds. And several innocent bystanders lost their lives as well that day. For being at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Like the Castle family, over thirty years ago, when they were cut down, that sunny summer day, in Central Park. Cut down for stumbling unto…"family business." That was the day The Punisher was born. That was when the man formerly known as Frank Castle started his war on those society failed to Punish. And he hasn't stopped since.

But the Punisher, his allies, and the warring gangs weren't the only ones involved in the carnage. A hard man, a U.S. Marshall called Cleveland Franklin, jumped into the fray. Franklin hunted Castle relentlessly and caught the vigilante and had him arrested and jailed.

For less then three weeks. Castle soon broke out of Ryker's Island and went back on the job.

Same old, same old.

Castle has been working full time ever since. Working hard to control the chaos.

And with Wilson Fisk-The Kingpin Of Crime-still behind bars or missing-the rumors went back and forth on that- there was still a vacuum in the Big Apple's Underworld. And there were dozens of bastards waiting to fill it.

Enter the Albanians. One of the most vicious crime syndicates on the planet. Drugs. Guns. Human trafficking. Anything for a profit.

And now they were trying to make their first big move.

Not on The Punisher's watch.

With the night vision scope fitted on his M-4/M-203 combo carbine, he could see everything as if it were a bright sunny day.

He saw the hard, cold faces. He recognized them. They managed to escape last year's big wars. They've been on his shit list a while, but there was always something else, somewhere else.

Castle was glad he had the opportunity to close that file, so to speak.

There was one big container being unloaded off the huge cargo boat. Had to be the goods.

All right. Castle checked his watch. It was to-

A garrotte seemingly materialized from nowhere and wrapped itself around Castle's left forearm and was slicing into his leather jacket's sleeve. And he was yanked backwards like a ragdoll. All 230 pounds of him. If not for the random luck of him checking his watch, he might have been decapitated. He was being dragged by someone with inhuman strength, almost Spider-Man strength. With his free hand, he managed to draw a .45 from under his coat. Something incredibly fast knocked the pistol out of his hand. His other arm was hurting and bleeding.

Then he was hurled against a beam holding a huge water reservoir back first. The Kevlar absorbed some of the impact but it still hurt like all hell and knocked the wind out of him. He bounced off and went down.

He saw spots. His vision was blurring. But clear enough to see a black clad, hooded figure pull out an edged weapon. A short sword. A ninja weapon.

Castle barely had time to pull out a knife of his own. His forearm blocked his enemy's forearm and the tip of the fucker's blade was mere inches from his face. And getting closer by the second. The bastard had leverage, with Castle being on his back. He struggled to turn his knife towards his adversary's face.

And Castle's knife blade flew out and went into his assailant's Adam's apple. The ninja let go of his weapon and was knocked back, but not down. He was bleeding, his voice nothing more than a gurgle and he was struggling to the ballistic blade out of his throat.

Enough of that shit.

The Punisher found his .45 and shot the ninja twice in the head. The head vanished in a crimson paste and the decapitated corpse turned into dust.

Biodegradable scumbags. Castle has seen that before.

The Hand? Someone using the Hand to muscle in on the mobs?

Think on that later. There had to be other assholes in black pyjamas down there, robbing Castle of his kills.

Sore from the fight, Castle shook his head, like a dizzy fight fighter, and got back in the game.

He was hearing gunfire. They were starting the party without him. That's goddamn rude.

He went back to the edge of the building and grabbed his rifle again.

It was pandemonium.

More ninja, literally cutting down the Albanians. Strong, fast, seemingly dancing around the bullets. He saw some of them opening the containers and rushing in. There were gonna help themselves to the cargo. There were already a dozen Albanians dead.

The Punisher saw four of the Albanian henchmen crouched behind a SUV firing at three incoming ninja.

A peach of a shot.

Castle fired a high explosive 40mm projectile at the SUV. The combine blasts of the HE round and the detonated fuel sent all of the slimebags up, up and away.

He ejected the empty shell casing and replaced it with another HE grenade.

Above the gunfire, above the sounds of war, Castle heard a blood curling scream. It sounded like…a child. It seemed to come from…

Realisation hit him like a freight train.

He had brought rope. He tied it around a vent and threw it over the ledge. He repelled to the ground.

There more terrified screams filling the air, covering the cussing and gunfire. Castle could hear nothing else.

A long .223 burst from his M4 cut down four Albanians coming on his right.

The rifle was yanked from his hands.

Movement on his left. As his eyes caught it, he was hit in the chest by several rounds. 9 mm. It knocked the wind out of him. He went down, rolled, pulled out his twin Colts.

Swallow the pain.

Survive.

PUNISH.

He fired at three men in black. He fired at knees and feet, where Kevlar did no good, usually. Pay dirt.. They went down, writhing in agony.

But there were the _other_ screams…

Willing himself to his feet, Castle ran, towards the screams. Reloading on the way.

Towards the container.

He reached it and looked inside.

Frank Castle, The Punisher, paused, for a millisecond, frozen in horror.

He saw four dozen ninja, hoods off, standing over bloody copses of raggedy looking men, women and children. Some of them were drinking blood from the jugulars, their long fangs slick and crimson. The inside of the container was covered in various blood splatter and some of the people in the box were still alive. In shock. Beyond terror.

Slavers. The Albanians were slavers. The ninja were vampires and they were feeding on the people the Albanians intended to sell as slave labor.

Without a second thought, filled with unspeakable cold rage, he rose his pistols and shot the nearest ones still feeding and blew their heads off. They tuned to ash.

The Punisher was feeling nothing but the cold bloodlust in his guts. These fuckers had to die, plain and simple.

A black blur. Castle was hit in the chest. Not by bullets. A kick. He heard his ribs go as he flew backwards and slid across the asphalt. He lost his guns on the way. He kept hearing the screams. It hurt to breathe. It was still not the hardest he's ever been hit. He could take it. He had to take it.

While he was on his back, the one who had kicked him hissed, blood still dripping from his fangs, leaped in the air, with the intention of landing right foot first into Castle's larynx.

A gunshot resounded. And the ninja was knocked off course and landed hard on his side, in sheer agony, on the concrete. All that thanks to the .44 Magnum special slug from Castle's hide-away Bulldog Charter's Arms that destroyed the ninja's genitals. Punisher took no time to gloat and shot the bastard in the head. His body dissolved instantly.

Castle would never know how he was fast enough to dive away from the other ninja's leap, but he was. While he and the other ninja were in mid air, he fired the remaining four 44 Magnum slugs in the fucker's chest. Castle and a pile of dust hit the ground.

The Punisher went back to his feet. Everything was hurting. He dropped his empty revolver and went back to the container.

It was pure slaughter. The survivors were bathed in blood. They looked like zombies. They were never going to be right again. They looked at him, elderly, young, tired, sick, mutilated. He tried to reassure them, but they backed away from him as if he were the devil.

He locked stares with a little girl. No more than eight. Eyes wide forever.

He heard sirens.

Cops. Healers. That's what these people needed. For now.

Castle limped away to his van. And drove away.

He could never offer these people peace or happiness. The best he could do was retribution.

Find the fuckers responsible and kill them.

Every last fucking one of those evil bloodsucking fucks.

Haunted by the little girl's big, empty eyes, he drove back towards his safehouse.


	2. Chapter 2

THE DOCKS

0104 HOURS

An unmarked police car arrived at the latest carnage. And two tallish, black women stepped out. Detectives Terry Lee-early 40s, shortly cropped hair, burgundy business suit jacket and pants, dark complexion- and Beverly Sykes-mid 30s, long, curly hair, blue jeans, black t-shirt, ¾ length leather jacket and glasses, lighter complexion- stepped out.

"More gang war crap?" Lee asked.

"It would seem so. Jesus, what a mess." Sykes answered.

Ambulances, squad cars, fire trucks. Dozens of uniformed cops, firemen, paramedics, people from ESU, crime scene techs. Lights and chaos everywhere.

"Well, well, well." A voice said from behind them. "If it ain't the black Cagney and Lacey."

A tall, grey haired white man, with a grey mustache walked over to them. Detective Leo Kessler. Next to him, a shorter, younger, brown haired man had a toothpick in his mouth walked with a cocky swagger. Detective Paul McCann.

"Hello, ladies." McCann said. "Sorry to yank you out of your beauty sleep."

"Especially to see your ugly ass. We better get time and half" Sykes said. "What's up?"

"Looks like mob war." McCann's playful tone was gone. "With a sick twist. Come on."

The four detectives walked over and around several gutted and beheaded bodies. Some charred ones. Some shot to pieces.

"Feels like we're taking a walk through Baghdad." Lee said.

"Baghdad was never this fucked up. " Kessler said.

Moments later, they arrived at a container.

"Viewer discretion is advised." McCann said awkwardly. "Take a look inside."

Lee and Sykes looked. And froze.

On the container floor, there were half a dozen bodies. Women. Children. Gutted. With throats ripped out. Eyes locked in unspeakable terror.

"Christ Almighty." Sykes said, putting he hand in front of her mouth.

"My God…What the hell…" Lee said, fighting back nausea.

"We don't know yet." McCann said. "Not for sure. CSU is thinking…they were…savaged by some kinda wild animal."

"What?" Sykes asked.

"Teeth marks. Claw marks. Like they were attacked by some fucking beast-like creature." Kessler said. "Also. They were bled."

"Bled?" Lee asked.

"Almost like they had the blood sucked out of them, like…vampires" McCann said.

Pause. They walked away form the horror.

"Okay. So what? What are we saying? Vampires? Or some kind of…mutant with Vampire-Like M.O.?" Lee asked.

"That Morbius guy, maybe?" Sykes said.

"Who knows?" Kessler said. "Jesus, this fucking city keeps getting worse everyday."

"But wait a minute." Sykes said. "This makes no sense. What about the rest of this shit? The shootouts and all that? That doesn't fit in his M.O. as far as I know. Seems like a lot of trouble for a single vampire who needs to feed."

"Maybe he was drawn by the conflict. Two separate events? These fucks kill each other and then he feeds on whatever he can find?" McCann suggested.

"I dunno…"Sykes said. "Way out here? Why not catch a young couple making out in Central Park or something? Why risk catching a bullet in the middle of all this? I... Something bugs me about this. Can't put my finger on it."

"We can't put out an APB on a vampire. That's…" McCann started.

"Weirder than an APB on Spider-Man? Or Ghost Rider? Or watching Galactus trying to eat the planet again?" Lee said.

"Points taken." McCann said.

A new voice from behind the detectives: "Excuse us? Detectives?"

A tall, balding white man and a brown haired woman showed up. The bald man spoke up: "Special Agent Chris Burns. FBI. This is my partner, Lucy Mullen. Organized Crime Task Force."

Introductions were made.

"We may be able to shed some light on the situation." Burns said.

"Go ahead." Kessler said.

Mullen took the floor: "These were members of an Albanian syndicate. We believe they were…importing slave labor from back home, maybe Eastern Europe. We had our eye on them. Didn't have enough paperwork or manpower to watch over this…arrival."

"Jesus." McCann said.

Sykes: "Ok. What about whoever hit the Albanians? And that…what happened in the container?"

Another voice. It was a CSU tech.: "We got something. Found it on a roof near-by."

The tech showed a plastic bag filled with two large shell casings.

Kessler: "Those are from a bloop gun. A 40 mil grenade launcher. Military issue."

Lee: "Big guns. Dead gangsters."

Burns: "The Punisher."

McCann: "Swell. We needed that."

Burns: "We offer our full support. Many different variables here. The more bodies are on this, the better."

Ever since the One Police Plaza bombing, interagency cooperation has been smoother and on the increase.

Kessler:" Vampires. Vigilantes. And thugs shooting the fuck out of each other. I think I'll put in for a transfer in Afghanistan. I'll feel safer."

"Yeah, well, whatever we do." Sykes said. "I can't shake the feeling that things are gonna get a lot worse before they get any better."

PUNISHER SAFEHOUSE

BROOKLYN

0104 HOURS

Castle bandaged his wound on his arm and taped up his damaged ribs.

The Punisher was on his back, thinking.

He saw some of the killers with the hoods off. Asian. Whenever he wounded some, they yelled and cussed. He was too focused to notice anything but the true victims' cries. Thinking back on it. They cussed in a language that wasn't English. He knew Vietnamese, was familiar with Cantonese and Mandarin.

It sounded a lot like…Japanese?

The Yakuza? Making a move for New York? Wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. Like with The Russians the year before.

A foreign syndicate would make sense. In the past weeks, he hadn't heard anything on the street except that Albanian shipment and a big goombah pow-wow in the woods of Connecticut in a few weeks. Not a word on a crew moving from overseas, nothing major but old school mafia calling an emergency meeting. Apparently, mob figure heads from everywhere were trying to restructure the Cosa Nostra. After the Massimo Cesare b-day Castle crashed a couple of years before, the thing with Cavella and the big Gang War from the year before, all of those events had panicked some of the wiseguys. They felt on the brink of extinction.

Good. Castle wanted to keep it that way.

Back to the Dock situation.

Vampires.

Strong. Fast. Trained. Quick healers. Hard to Kill. And there were probably more out there.

Castle was thinking. Before acting or reacting, he would need to know more. He got up from bed, hurting, sore and went to a near by computer. He had a few informants from different walks of life. Some street scum he always knew where to find. And a whole bunch of cops, feds, spooks…people within the system who believed that the law could always use a little nudge.

He set up blind e-mail inboxes for those soldiers from the same side.

He had a new message from J.M. A meeting place. A time. Dawn.

Good. Castle was gonna grab some rest. A tired soldier made for a reckless soldier.

DAWN

RISING SUN DOJO, BROOKLYN

Castle stopped his van in front of the address he was given. The door was opened. He smelled the coffee before seeing a man sitting at a small table next to the sparring ring. There was coffee and donuts on the table.

The one on the right, he recognized. It was his contact. Middle aged white man, greying hair, piercing eyes, business suit. John Watkins. High ranking member of the CIA He got up to greet Castle.

"Glad you could make it, Frank. Your work, last night?"

"Some of it, yeah." Castle said.

They sat down. Castle took a plain donut from the box. The Man From Langley got straight to business.

"We have some good news and bad news, Frank. The bad news is, with all the shit that's going in New York, we have another turd to add to the pile. And it's bad. The good news is, we know who it is."

Watkins pulled out a file. Castle opened it. It had the picture of a hard faced Japanese man. Other shots showed his body, covered in tattoos of dragons and other designs.

"Sato Natakomi. More accurately, the other way around, but fuck that. Born in Osaka. Hard core Yakuza. Disgraced by the old Yakuza many years ago. Plenty of speculation as to why. Murder. Prostitution. Name it. Whatever he did to piss off the Yakuza, it was enough for them to kill him. Or try. That was last year. Six months ago, he resurfaces. Creates his own outfit. Recruits hundreds. Hundreds. Killers. Biker gangs. Ninjas. He builds a fucking army. This army wipes out the old line Yakuza families in Osaka and Tokyo. Except for a few gangs here and there, he owns most of the major cities in Japan. Now, this is where it gets weird, and you might need an open mind-"

"Somewhere along the line, he got turned into a vampire. And HE turned his crew into more vampires." Castle said.

If John was startled, he hid it well. "You met a few of his guys last night? The docks, the container?"

"Yeah. Almost handed me my ass."

"They got a couple good shots in, I see."

"Not good enough. They're trying to make a move in New York?"

"Yeah. It's started." Watkins paused. "Frank, as bad ass as you are, you can't handle this alone. You have friends in the cape and cowl gang?"

Frank imagined that his look was eloquent. Watkins "That many, huh?"

"Yeah."

"My own people are tied up in Europe somewhere. Joint SHIELD/CIA op".

"Miracles never cease." Castle said.

"Yeah. Fury's people don't like us Agency guys. But they hate me less than most company men."

Watkins sighed.

"Looks like you're on your own, Frank. Sorry."

"Thanks for the intel, John. I'll manage."

"Any ideas?" Watkins asked.

"If Natakomi's crew is serious about wiping out the competition, I know where they might hit next."

"The Connecticut thing?"

"Yeah."

"Makes sense." Then Watkins looked at Castle. "You…you're not thinking of going there alone, are you?"

"Unless it's a couples only thing, yeah, I'm going alone."

"Frank. There will be dozens of wiseguys, plus bodyguards. Plus, maybe, a small platoon of fucking vampire ninjas!"

"Yeah."

"It's suicide!"

"Who else is gonna do it?"

Watkins nodded, said. "Right. Jesus." He shook Castle's hand.

"Good luck, Frank. Godspeed."

Castle nodded silently and both men went their separate ways.

Watkins' handshake felt like a farewell.

It might very well be.

But Castle sure as hell wasn't going down alone.


	3. Chapter 3

THREE WEEKS LATER

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

SOMEWHERE IN NEW JERSEY

0200 HOURS

Three weeks after their meeting, Watkins, Castle's CIA contact, acting against stereotype, had a gift for Castle. And he was there to give it.

When he revealed it, Castle had to pause for a second.

Castle: "This must have taken some doing, John."

Watkins: "It's not much, but it will give you a fighting chance. I wish I could back you up more. My crew is South America. Some really nasty shit down there…"

Castle: "Don't worry about it, John. I'll make the most of it."

Watkins: " I got satellite pics of the place of the meet and I managed to get some info based on some very illegal wiretaps. There should be about three dozen wiseguys. Bosses and underbosses. No girlfriends, no family, no hookers, no one outside of the business. Between six and ten bodyguards each. Possible some hired mercs too."

Castle: "The more the merrier."

Watkins: "That's anywhere between 200 and 400 bad guys, Frank. Never mind the yakuza freaks."

Castle: "Yeah. Bad odds. For them."

Watkins: "You're hopeless, Frank."

Castle: "Took you this long to figure it out?"

Watkins: "Christ…"

Castle: "This is what I do, John. This is what I am. I crash this meeting, I could do a lot of damage to the power structure. I will scare them. I will hurt them. None of my efforts will be wasted. Maybe I make it out, maybe I don't. But those fucks will have felt my wrath one way or another. I'll feel even warmer in my spot in hell knowing that."

Watkins: "You take whatever victories you can."

Castle: "Not much of a choice in this sort of war. With these kind of odds."

Castle looked at his gift. It was a considerable edge, maybe even enough to succeed. But the mooks have gotten smarter. They no-longer underestimated him.

He would find out a week later how things would go.

Watkins: "I almost forgot, or have you already heard…"

Castle: "Code: Blue, the NYPD branch specialized in taking down superfucks, apprehended Morbius. They think he's behind that carnage on the docks. Makes sense that the cops would think that. They're also looking for me. It also makes sense that you don't share what you have with them. One leak and everyone goes insane."

Watkins: "Figured you would have known…and thought about all the angles."

Castle: "I'm more than just an enraged, hateful psychopath hell bent on revenge. Knowledge is power in this…field of work."

Watkins: "Yeah, ain't it the truth."

There was a pause between the two men. Old soldiers, in their own way, fighting their own battles.

Watkins: "All right, for real this time. Take care and fuck them up."

Castle: "That's the plan."

ONE WEEK LATER

A FEW MILES OUTSIDE OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

IN THE WOODS

2000 HOURS

The Punisher was approaching his target.

It was a very stately manor. A large estate.

Neighbours were miles away.

Perfect.

Old house, bought from old money. From where he was, he saw rows and rows of limousines, armed thugs patrolling around the estate. Leaning against the cars.

This was the time where everyone was supposed to be there. Judging from the number of cars. They were all on time.

Again: perfect.

Castle was about ready to begin.

The thugs looked up at him.

_Say cheese, you lousy bastards_.

Closing in with Apache AH-64 he was flying, Castle aimed his M230 30MM Cannon at the rows of luxury cars. A long burst of M789 High Explosive Dual Purpose-both armor piercing and high explosive-rounds were chewing into the bullet-proof limos like they were made out of cardboard.

The gun sounded like the bloodthirsty bellow of a very angry God as it was raining thunder, lightning, hellfire and brimstone onto unsuspecting gunsels and vehicles. They were exploding one after the other, as the hired guns were turned into paste.

Castle almost allowed himself a smile and had to admit that it felt _good_.

After his first attack, Castle flew away, ready to come back for another pass. This time, he-

A vicious barrage of automatic fire came out of the house.

50 Cal Browning Machine Gun. It hit the side of the chopper, chewing into the metal.

Evasive manuvers. Castle took the gunship away from was most likely a fortress.

They were ready for him. More than ready.

A fountain in the backyard opened up and revealed a 50 cal machine gun. Automated. They may not have been ready for air strike, but what they had would do the trick.

She was already handling with difficulty. A concert of blips, the smell of smoke and tremors indicating that he was badly damaged. Targeting systems were down.

All right, then. He would have to guess-aim.

He fired some more HE/AP rounds at the automated machine gun and it exploded in a loud-

Another bip. Frantic.

He was painted with a laser signature.

Someone had a missile aimed at him.

He looked down and saw an SUV with the cab removed and a man holding a Stinger rocket aimed at him. Some 30 mil ripped the rocket-man and the truck to shreds.

But not before the Rocket was launched.

Castle was fucked.

Still being pounded by another 50 cal somewhere, he entertained no hopes and dreams of escaping the rocket. Once targeted, there was no escape.

And he was losing control. He was spiralling towards the ground. If the rocket didn't get him, he would crash.

He shut his eyes. At peace. He would finally rest.

He would finally be reunited with Maria and the kids.

The mind did something strange. Castle knew he had mere seconds to go, but somehow his mind managed to stretch that moment endlessly.

The beeps. The tremors. The smoke.

_Maria, I'm coming home._

The missile hit the Apache, sounding like Judgement had just fallen in Connecticut. And the helicopter exploded in hundreds of chunks of burning metal.


	4. Chapter 4

Frank Castle opened his eyes. He was lying on his back. He was alive.

That in itself was somewhat of an accomplishment, since he took a direct hit from a Stinger missile.

"Surprise, Castle. You're alive." A female voice said.

He turned his head towards the voice. He saw an athletic woman in full combat gear. Pouches, guns, grenades and knives. She had a full head of blond hair and a military bearing.

"Sharon Carter. SHIELD."

The Punisher got up and looked around. He was in some sort of futuristic aircraft. And there were more people.

"What the hell happened?" Castle asked. "Where am I?"

"You were teleported here." Carter answered. "We're a few hundred yards away from the estate you were hitting. Thanks to you, we have an idea about the mobster's defenses."

"SHIELD doesn't usually hunt gangsters." Castle said. "Unless this is off the books."

Carter smiled: "No, this is sanctioned. And you're right, we're not merely after the gangsters. We have some SHIELD operatives, posted elsewhere, along with some motivated freelance elements. Some of which I'm going to introduce now."

There was a tall, brown haired man in full forest green fatigues, also packing enough hardware for a small war. "Solo." Carter said. "A vigilante. Specialized in hunting terrorists. And teleporter. He pulled you out of the chopper at the last minute."

Castle had heard of this man. A genuine bad ass. Maybe a bit reckless because of his teleporting ability. Their paths hadn't met before. It was a question of time.

Castle: "Thanks."

Solo: "Don't mention it. Big fan of your work, by the way."

Another woman, another pro whose rep preceded her. Short black hair. Black outfit. Face in white make-up with a black diamond painted over her left eye. Carter: "Domino. Mercenary. Mutant. Luck altering powers."

"Hiya." She said.

Castle nodded. He knew of her. She was part of a merc outfit called Six Pack. She hung out with the X people. Known close associate of Cable.

Next up was a fiery red headed white woman. She had twin Uzis at her hip. Winchester rifles sheathed like swords on her back. She had a long trench coat on. Around her neck, a choker with what seemed like a ruby incrusted. "Elsa Bloodstone. Monster Hunter. Stronger, faster, more durable than an average human." Carter said. "She's one of our freelance experts."

"Cheers, guv." She said with an unmistakeable British accent.

And Castle saw the last man. He'd met him only once over a decade ago. He was part of the Nightstalkers, then. These days, he was on his own. A black man, large build, wearing black leather. Carrying many throwing knives and a broadsword slung on his back.

Carter: "Blade, Vampire Hunter. His reasons for being tapped for this op are obvious."

Blade: "Castle. Long time." His voice was a low, bass filled growl.

Castle: "Yeah."

He looked around the small group of experts. The last time he work with people, he was with a similar group of hardcore warriors. With Bloodstone and Blade present, it could only mean one thing.

"You're hoping the Vampire Ninja Of The Yakuza will attack." The Punisher said.

Carter: "You met a few of them on the docks about a month ago."

Castle: "Yeah. I got to witness their…handiwork."

Carter: "We saw what they did to those poor people in the container."

Castle: "So did I."

He's been seeing it in his sleep ever since that night. And the girl, eyes opened wide in unspeakable terror.

Castle: "They're not only stronger and faster. They're also trained. They took down dozens of heavily armed thugs. They're also smart. They've kept quiet for the past month, keeping a low profile."

Blade: "These suckheads ain't fools. They keep to the shadows. Biding their time."

Carter: "I agree. But, we can't let them take over here like they did in Japan. They wiped out most of the old line Yakuza, led by a man called-"

Castle: "Sato Natakomi. I know the story."

Carter: "Right. We're expecting a big move. Lots of mob guys, all at the same time. They will show up in force if they do."

Castle: "_When_ they do. Vampires or not, they're still gangsters. They can't pass up a target like this. Who else you got working on this?"

Carter: "The Howling Commandos."

Castle: "The Howling Commandos…Fury's old army buddies?"

Bloodstone: "Oh, no. Something else completely, old chap. You'll like it."

Castle thought about it. "Those guys are specialized in dealing with paranormal stuff."

Carter: "That is one way to put it."

Solo: "Guys, sorry to break up the meeting. Motion detectors picked up several…shitloads of movement heading towards the estate."

Carter approached the craft's dashboard. She looked on several monitors. She saw nothing. According to other sensors, they were leaping over their heads, from tree to tree.

Blade: "It's them. Don't look for visuals. Vampires don't show up on camera."

Castle: "How can they not see us?"

Carter: "We're cloaked. Invisible to the naked eye. You packing?"

Castle: "I had guns in a duffel bag. In the chopper."

Carter, still looking for confirmation on her instruments: "Bourne, get him outfitted. I'll call the others."

Solo: "I'm on it. Over here, Castle."

Castle: "Bourne?"

Solo: "Real name is James Bourne. Former NATO Special forces." He pulled a futuristic looking rifle out of a locker. It looked like a half M-16, half SPAS-12 auto shotgun hybrid. The ammo drum was large. So was the scope mounted on the handle. "SHIELD issue assault rifle. 7,62 mm long, armor piercing, explosive rounds. Monster killing rounds. Should hurt anything this side of Hulk. If that won't do, 20 mm projectile launcher. Load it like a shotgun. Fires a mix of HE explosives and frags. Also, armor piercing. Extra-light, jam free. Handles like a charm."

Castle took the rifle. It weighed almost nothing. He had to admit, it was a nice toy. Solo went on.

"On top, that's an ultraviolet beam projector. Concentrated sunlight. Kills a vamp on sight. Takes a while to reload. Hence the bullets and ammo. You say you're out of ammo and your UV got messed up? Watch this."

Solo took his own rifle and pushed a button near the trigger guard. An 18 inch long blade came out from underneath the barrel.

"Retractable bayonet. One of these through the heart should do the job."

"Filet O' Vamp." Domino said.

"I prefer Vamp-que-bab, meself." Bloodstone said.

Suddenly, Castle heard something. Like distant thunder…or explosions.

Carter: "The estate is under attack. This is it!"

The craft took off and lifted off the ground and closed in on the estate.

Blade, smiling very briefly. : "About time they showed "

Domino: "You're enjoying this a bit too much."

Blade: "A man must take pride in his work. Don't say you don't feel a bit of a rush yourself. Before a fight."

Domino: "Touché."

Castle grabbed a SHIELD rifle. He had his own sidearms. Twin 9mm Glock 18s. Full automatic machine pistols under his armpits. Twin 50 Action Express GI 50 pistols on his hips. All loaded with his own super hot armor piercing rounds. A few knives.

Throw the large windshield, looking down, Castle could see black figures, inhumanly fast, chopping down mercs in full gear. These weren't goombah thugs. Those were hardcore ex-Delta types. Some of the ninja were going inside the house.

"SHIELD 1 to Monsters Inc." Carter said.

"Monsters Inc, responding." Another voice said.

"Night vision gear, everyone."

Solo tossed Castle a pair of night vision goggles.

"Let's take' em." Carter said.

The craft opened and Castle and his allies poured out.

The fight was on.


	5. Chapter 5

Several of the vampire ninja were busy with the mercs guarding the mafia stronghold.

Castle took aim at a cluster of six shadow warriors coming his way. Twenty feet and closing fast. He fired one of his 20mm high explosive rounds.

High explosive was right. The blast was bigger than he had expected and the small group of assailants vanished in a small mushroom of dust and blood.

Not wasting any time gloating, Castle spun about 90 degrees to his left and saw four more of the undead henchmen running his way. He fired a figure eight burst of special 7,62mm rounds. The SHIELD issue ammunition blew clear holes through his targets' torsos and they collapsed into lumps of ash.

He took a second to see how his allies were doing.

Blade and Bloodstone liked playing it close.

Blade was holding his broadsword with ease, twirling it like a cheerleader would a baton, beheading any enemy that dared coming into too close. He also seemed to have six-inch blades coming out of his boot tips, so a roundhouse kick would cause instant decapitation.

Bloodstone, spouting a mix of vile curses and cheerful taunts-"fanged fuckers" or "undead wankers"among others- was blasting away with her twin Winchester shotguns, until she ran out. She changed her grip on them, holding them by the barrel and using them as clubs, literally knocking off the heads of her enemies with her super strength and speed.

Much less flamboyant were Domino and Carter, holding their rifles, stock against shoulder, firing controlled bursts that always scored. Never at the same place twice. Moving. Hunting cover. Taking care of business.

A group of seven black clad assassins were about to come down on Solo. He vanished and reappeared several feet above them, strafing them with a long burst of modified 7,62 rounds. Heads exploded and they all turned to ash.

Castle was not much of a team player, but, just like a year ago, he was glad to be teamed-up with such pros. No whining about killing. No debating. Seek and destroy.

The way it should be.

"Bourne!" Castle said, noticing another group of dark killers coming up behind his green clad comrade.

Solo wasted no time, did a 180 and opened up with a several 7,62 slugs and so did Castle. Caught in a crossfire, they stood no chance and they became dust.

Castle jogged over to Solo.

"Thanks for the save, Frank."

"Don't mention it."

There was yet more mayhem and chaos all over the estate, most of which was coming from inside the house.

"I'm guessing the bad guys sent most of their forces inside the house to take out the capos." Castle said.

"It's what I figured. But we got that covered." Solo said with a smile while pointing at the sky.

A futuristic aircraft flew over the mansion. The side door opened and Castle watched people jump out.

Six.

Once he got a better look, Castle thought that maybe people wasn't the right term.

One of them was a gorilla. One of them was a man sized wolf. One was a green giant. One was a woman. The others, he wasn't able to ID as all of them crashed through the manor's roof, all wearing SHIELD uniforms and carrying serious hardware.

Castle had heard Carter code name them Monsters Inc.

"The Howling Commandos." Castle said.

"In one, Frank." Solo said, still smiling. "We don't have to worry about what's going on in the house. Trust me."

Indeed, there was plenty to keep them busy outside. The sounds of war seemed to be getting even louder from inside the house.

Suddenly, Castle was blindsided. Something knocked down him from behind. He rolled with the blow and turned, but his rifle was kicked out of his hands. His attacker had a short sword and was inhumanly fast. Castle got out a Ka-Bar in each hand. His steel blocking the ninja's. But, there was no way he could keep matching the bloodsucker's speed for very long. He tried to strike, trying to find an opening. He was feeling the fatigue and strain on his arm muscles.

Then, a lucky break. The killer went for a forward thrust. Castle side stepped, barely, he felt the short sword cut into the Kevlar. Then, the Punisher stabbed. He buried his left hand Ka-bar to the hilt, right at the nape of the neck. As the vampire fell face first, Castle pulled out a 50 AE pistol and fired a headshot. The hot, armor piercing round ended the fight quickly enough. Castle put his pistol back into its holster.

Two more raiders in black came at The Punisher armed with silenced HK MP-5 and fired. The Kevlar and ceramic plate beneath it held but still knocked the vigilante down. He rolled, grabbed his SHIELD rifle on the way and loosed a burst at waist level that cut them in two.

Both attackers were still moving, using their arms and forearms, still heading towards Castle, not bothered by the fact that their lower halves were missing and that were leaving chunks of intestines in the trails of blood that was following.

A single round to each cranium stopped them for good.

The war seemed to be winding down.

Except from inside the house.

Carter, Domino, Blade, Bloodstone, Solo and The Punisher reunited near their aircraft.

"Good work, people." Carter said.

Domino: "Always expect the best from the best."

Bloodstone: "Like the sound of that. We should print that on business cards."

Solo: "Kinda ruins the whole concept of being covert, there, Elsa."

Domino: "Covert? I thought we were illegal."

Solo: "Is that better or worse than covert?"

Carter: "From my experience, it's the same."

There was a short pause in the banter. Castle could clearly hear a mix of screams, gunfire and ripping noises coming from inside the house. People were being shot and/or dismembered in there.

Blade: "Freaks almost done?"

Carter checked her watch: "Shouldn't be much longer."

Soon, the noise stopped. Then six silhouettes stepped out of the ruined manor.

Castle did see right before. They couldn't qualify as people. Not exactly.

Carter: "Castle, meet the Paranormal Containment Unit. The Howling Commandos."

She went on with the introductions:

"This is Gorilla Man. That's pretty much self-explanatory."

"How's it goin'?" The Gorilla Man said.

Carter, pointing at a green, bald, stitched-up giant, over 7 feet tall.

"This is the clone of Frankeinstein's monster. Don't ask."

Frankeinstein: "It's complicated."

Then a woman with pink-purple skin and blonde hair.

Carter: "Nina Price, half werewolf, half vampire."

She looked at Castle. As if evaluating his worthiness.

The next two seemed like walking corpses, one of them wrapped up.

Carter: "The Living Mummy and Zombie."

The Mummy: "Greetings, mortal."

Zombie:" I…um…don't…um…wanna…um… eat your… brains. Um…Honest."

Carter: "Finally, Warwolf."

Before Castle's eyes, the wolf-man changed back into human form. An average looking white man with brown hair.

Warwolf: "Carter figured you'd be in on this. What with your thing for gangsters and all. Welcome aboard."

Castle, unphased, gave a silent nod.

Gorilla Man to Castle: "You know, for a down-to-earth guy like yourself, you don't seem to freaked out by us. You that hard to impress?"

Castle, without blinking, looked at Gorilla Man in the eye. "A while ago, Blackheart wanted to recruit me, Wolverine and Ghost Rider to kill his father. Mephisto."

Gorilla Man: "No shit?"

Castle: "He tried twice. We had to go through hordes of demons to rescue a village from his clutches. Among which a little girl with psychic powers that Blackheart wanted to marry to…I forget. So…Let's just say those adventures, and others, taught to me keep an open mind."

Gorilla Man: "And you don't mind working with us?"

Castle:" I trust Carter as much as I would Fury. She says you're on our side, I believe it. Any more questions?"

Gorilla Man: "Yeah. Besides your lifelong grudge against gangsters, what's in it for ya?."

Castle thought of the slaves in the container, being savaged.

Castle: "I have my reasons."

Gorilla Man: "So, this is personal."

Castle, without missing a beat, without a blink: "It always is."

Carter: "Ok. Enough chatter, people. Let's head back to the base, and figure out our next move from there."

The Howling Commandos went back to their aircraft. The others and Castle went to theirs.

Once in the craft, in the air:

Castle:" I think we should expect some sort of retaliation from the Yakuza."

Solo: "It would make sense. But how. They can't know who we are."

Castle: "They can find out. Or do something major to draw us out and ambush us."

Carter: "You sure about this?"

Castle: "Vampires or not, these fuckers are gangsters. No different from The Kingpin or whoever. I've spent more than half my life hunting them. I know how they think. They take hits, but always know how to hit back. They will find a way to get proactive."

Carter, nodding: "Ok, Castle. I'll buy that. Any idea how?"

Castle: "One of two ways: we get a tip of some big transaction going down. Turns out to be a trap. Or it's something loud and ugly that is bound to get our attention. But one way or another, we will hear from them."


	6. Chapter 6

THE OUTSKIRTS OF OSAKA, JAPAN

BENEATH A MANSION

Sato Natakomi was bathing in blood.

No metaphors there.

He was being showered in it.

He was in a large marble reservoir, beneath a dozen iron maidens. In each of those iron maidens, an enemy who tried to stand his way, in the way of his destiny. The blood he was bathing, was also from enemies.

Also, their wives, children, relatives.

Some was stolen from blood banks.

Natakomi loved being a vampire. The power, the speed, the eternal youth, the immortality.

And the blood. Addictive, intoxicating. More so than any wine or narcotic.

He remembered that faithful night, when disgraced from the Yakuza because of his failures, banished as a wretched failure, he met this mysterious woman who promised him power. The power to get revenge against those who had set him aside like so much garbage.

She was a vampire. She was the one who turned him. She taught him how to hunt and feed. He loved every second of it. She was the leader of a small pack of vampires in Osaka.

Until he knew that he no longer needed her. He killed her and drank her blood and cut her head off with a sword. He told her pack that she'd been killed by someone else and that he was the new leader of the small tribe.

Their number grew and grew. Included biker gangs. Thugs. And soon, a clan of assassins.

And with this new super-strong, nearly invincible new army of killers, he took back what was rightfully his. In Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. He became the supreme Yakuza warlord.

He slaughtered countless enemies. Drank their blood. Killed their families. Stole their empires.

Gambling. Counterfeit Money. Extortion. Drugs. Slavery. Pornography. His clan reigned supreme. Feared by all. He crushed almost all of his enemies. A few came to an understanding and he let them have scraps of territories, here and there.

He wanted to do what many before him had failed to do, conquer the United States. Where most knew relative success on the West Coast, Natakomi wanted the prize.

New York City.

Known to be impregnable. The conquest of the Big Apple would be the ultimate display of power.

Of course, it was complicated. With all the factors there. Other organisations. And the vigilantes.

It was a challenge. Which would make the victory even sweeter.

He stepped out of his bloodbath. Showered with hot water and soap. He ordered his housekeepers to drain the blood and watch the pool. He wanted fresh blood for a bath in a few days.

He took a small elevator to his lobby. A man was waiting for him. His lieutenant.

Kitano Watanabe. His most loyal friend.

"Bad news, Kitano?" He asked.

"Yes."

"You're going to tell me that our plans to exterminate the West Coast mafias in the US have failed."

"Apparently, they were all killed. But so were our men."

"Interesting. Was it the vigilantes?"

"It's not quite certain. We think maybe the Punisher, along with some allies."

"That was to be expected."

"Surely, we have to be able to get rid of-"

"Do not make the mistake others have made before us, Kitano. Do not underestimate a man so driven, motivated and skilled. Who are his allies? Superheroes? Nick Fury and his SHIELD?"

"We can't know for certain."

"All right. Let's focus on this Punisher. Former Marine, widower, lost his children, correct?"

"Yes. No surviving relatives we can use to lean on him."

"Perhaps no. But I may have a plan. A plan that will draw out our enemies. And we will be able to crush them easily. I want you to go to New York, take as many men and weapons as needed. And we will destroy Frank Castle and whoever is helping him Just like we destroyed our other enemies here."

NEW YORK CITY

FOUR DAYS LATER

In an abandoned warehouse serving as temporary HQ, Castle and his allies were busy.

Carter and some tech-types were monitoring communications in case there was word of something going down.

Castle himself spent the last few days shaking down his snitches. There was nothing. Streets were dry and quiet. No big moves. No big shipments. No rumours of big shots from out-of-town flying in. Whoever had survived the Russians a year ago and these new bastards this time was laying low.

Castle knew that something was coming. He knew it. He could not rationalize it, but he felt it in his gut.

He didn't like waiting. He didn't like being passive. He could only tough it out because he was certain it wouldn't last for very long.

Meanwhile, he was sharing time and space with a very unconventional group of people. It wasn't his style. But it would be more practical if they had to move suddenly.

He got to know Sharon Carter a bit. Former director of SHIELD at one point. Captain America's girlfriend. He could see why. Strong. Confident. Compassionate. Apparently the Howling Commandos wasn't her usual command. It was Clay Quartermain's, but he was unavailable. Carter was plenty capable of doing the job.

There were also some tense moments between Blade and Nina Price. A vampire-even half- working with a vampire hunter was interesting.

Also, Domino and Bloodstone playing cards with Gorilla Man and the Zombie.

This should be madness. Freaks of science and super-natural phenomena co-existing. But Castle had seen too much to not think outside the box.

Domino said it herself earlier: "We've all seen weirder things. I'm a mutant and I'm dating a time-travelling mutant cyborg from the future."

Castle was a loner, but he could relate to a few of his allies. Outsiders. Removed from the human race.

"Waiting's gettin' to ya?" He heard Blade ask.

Castle was almost startled. Somehow, Blade managed to sneak up on him. Very few people on earth could do that.

Castle: "A little. But it wouldn't be the first time."

Blade: "Sure. But you'd rather be out there. Kickin' ass."

Castle: "Yeah."

Blade: "Not used to many breaks when you go out and fight a war on your terms. Kill who you wanna kill when you wanna kill'em."

Castle: "That's right."

Blade: "You, me, Solo. We're different from those other guys we workin' with now. It's not just a job. It's not just duty. It's fate. It's in our blood. It's who we are."

Castle: "Usually, I run down leads. Talk to informants. Bust heads. This is different. Like my old life in the Corps. Waiting for orders. It's…annoying."

Solo joined in on their conversation: "I hear that. I didn't take the name Solo because I'm big on teamwork. But this gig is different. These assholes we're after are smart. Careful. Powerful. I've taken out a lot of scumbags in my time, but these are something else. Trained, motivated and superhuman. As a group, we can kick more ass at a time. And for each bastard we put down, we save an innocent life. I'd love just teleport to their hiding place and blow the all away. But I wouldn't even know where to start."

Castle: "And, as much as I hate to admit it, SHIELD has resources we don't have on our own."

Blade: "So we have our weird little team. Still…Rather be working with you and them than Spider-Man or somethin'."

Solo: "Hell, yeah. He'd be all outraged that we dare resort to killing and crap and we'd waste time fighting him and let the bad guys slip. And his fucking lectures. Jesus, the lectures. Beat me up, web me up, but shut the fuck up, please. Between that and his bad jokes, I can't believe that his enemies didn't all commit suicide."

Castle: "Kid means well. Always suspected he went through some kinda loss. Like me. Like you guys. He just didn't learn the same lesson the same way. I used to think he was weak. But I've seen him angry. Takes a hell of a lot of inner strength to be that powerful and not kill. All the evil he sees. He won't let it touch him or poison his soul. That's something. Whatever he learned, he learned the hard way and he's not likely to forget. He has his way. We have ours. He doesn't live in our world."

Solo: "For a bunch of grim killers, we sure can get metaphysical, huh?"

Castle: "Thinking about what we do and why is what makes us different from the scum we hunt, Bourne."

There was a pause in the conversation and then an intercom call from Carter. They were to meet in the War Room.

"Waiting game is over." Castle said.

The Howling Commandos and Castle's "team" were all present in the makeshift conference room.

Carter: "Just got a call from the FBI. About an hour ago, a school full of children went missing."

There was a chill in the room.

Castle: "How do we know-"

Carter: "It's related to our case? The driver was found dead. Drained of all his blood. Two small puncture wounds in the neck. Also, all the kids stuff was left on the scene."

Gorilla Man: "Why?"

Carter. "Hard to say. But there it is. FBI dusted the stuff for prints. They haven't found anything."

Castle: "That's the key."

Carter: "What?"

Castle: "Somehow, the key to finding the missing kids is their stuff. A note, a clue, something."

Carter: "You think-"

Castle: "This is it. This is their move. This is their trap."

Carter, thinking for a second and then: "You may be right. I'm going to meet the FBI people. Nina, I want you with me. Warwolf, you're in charge until I'm gone."

Warwolf, in his human form: "Yes, Ma'am."

Nina Price: "Why me?"

Carter: "You're a bloodhound. Smelling the kids' belongings, we might find them. The rest of you, stand by, suit up, gear up. As soon as we get a possible location, I want to ready to move."

Carter and Nina Price left the base.

The Punisher knew that things would move ahead from then on. He should feel relieved that the waiting was over. But the missing kids…an old fear tickled his mind, the part of his mind that used to care for children.

He just hoped that nothing happened to the missing kids.

Hoped. Since he didn't pray anymore.

Hope. It would have to be enough.


	7. Chapter 7

The wait wasn't long. An hour later, at the safehouse, Warwolf gathered the troops.

"We have a location. Let's go."

The Howling Commandos took one aircraft, the rest of the team took the other. Another seemingly abandoned warehouse on the other side of town. The SHIELD issue jets had cloaked immediately after takeoff and remained cloaked at the landing."

They landed in a deserted lot not far from the target.

Carter: "Infra red scans show no heat signatures."

Blade: "Vamps wouldn't show up on that."

Domino:" But the kids should have a heat signature. There should be some kinda reading."

There was a silence. It was heavy with meaning and speculation that remained unspeakable.

Castle's jaw set. His blood turned to ice as an overwhelming sense of dread took over him. Old ghosts started haunting his mind. He had to push it out and focus.

Castle: "What's the plan, Carter?"

She opened a channel so the Commandos could hear her as well.

Carter: "We split up. Go in from different entry points. Hug the walls. Stay in the shadows. Weapons free. Monsters Inc, split up in two teams and take the south and west exits. We will take the north and eastern ones. Find the missing 30 children and get them out. That is the top priority."

Blade: "They're here. The suckheads. I can feel them."

Bloodstone: "Me too."

From the other craft, The Mummy: "They are indeed in the vicinity. I can also sense them."

Carter: "All right, let's go."

Solo: "I hate the bring this up, but the kids, what if…"

Carter: "We go in and rescue them, Bourne. That's all."

Solo: "Ok, yeah."

Castle realized that Carter didn't want to clutter her mind with the unthinkable. Castle knew all too well that the unthinkable usually happened. Whether you were ready for it or not.

Carter: "Price…?"

Nina Price: "It's here, boss, I'm sure of it."

Carter: "All right. Night vision gear for those who need it. Let's get it done."

Blade, Bloodstone and Domino to the eastern approach. Solo, Castle and Carter took the north entrance.

Castle cleared his mind completely. He was in the moment. In the zone. Ready to act. Ready to kill.

Ready to punish.

Holding his SHIELD issue tightly, he went in, followed closely by his team-mates.

Team-mates. That felt odd to put in words, even only in thought.

Focus.

All ready, his nostrils were assaulted with overpowering stench of decomposition. There was something dead here.

There was nothing in the vast warehouse, nothing but a school bus. A school bus. And the smell of death.

Castle, despite his goggles, couldn't quite see inside. He was too far.

His blood ran colder. He felt his guts clench like a fist. After a while, he was in a void. There was nothing. No teams, no walls, just the stench and the bus and the sound of his heart beat in his chest.

His mind was screaming to watch for snipers and booby traps. A small pat of him wanted to run to the bus and just see, just to _know_.

_Focus. Stay cold. The__se fucks are playing mind games. That's all. _

Coming from all sides, Castle and his allies surrounded the bus. Castle noticed Carter pulling out a small gadget the size of a cell phone. She seemed to scan the bus. She mouthed the word "clear."

No booby traps.

Finally, Castle was asking himself: why weren't the kids crying? Scared kids cry, that's what they do. Unless, they weren't here or-

_Fuck it._

He broke formation and jogged to the bus ahead of the others.

The stench was stronger as he came closer to the bus.

He looked closely at the bus door. No wires or magnets. No signs of a booby trap.

He had to know. He had to know.

He opened the door. The stench hit him like a fist.

He went inside, up the small steps and looked inside.

It wasn't what he imagined. It was worse.

There were the thirty children.

Dead. Drained.

Skinned.

Their head were hanging at an awkward angle, which indicated that their necks were broken.

Their forever locked in skinless grimaces, eyes wide open, frozen in horror.

In a gruesome and grotesque display, they were sill wearing their uniforms.

Castle froze. His mind assaulted with images and sounds that usually came to him only during his sleep. Maria, the kids, calling his name, begging, crying, screaming. He seemed to see them in each of those innocent, dead eyes. The same accusation: "Why didn't you save us? Why did you leave us to die?"

And then, the gunfire started.

He was aware of it, but was still frozen. His senses were registering the sounds of war but his mind was elsewhere. In hell. Thirty pairs of eyes blaming him for his failure.

In his earpiece, Carter: "Zombie's down! Hunt for cover!"

Solo: "Come on! Come on, you bastards, come and get it!"

More gunfire, screaming, an explosion, then Gorilla Man.: "Shit, I'm hit, I took shrapnel from a 40 mil!"

Warwolf: "Some of them are flyers! Incoming!"

Another explosion, Carter: "Blade is down! Another 40 mil! I'm going to-ugh!"

Domino: "Carter! She's hit!"

Castle came out his trance. He got out of the bus.

The horror had left him.

All that was left was cold rage and bloodlust.

He saw two vampires with bat-wings coming down and fallen Carter and Blade with Domino about to raise her rifle.

He strafed them with the special SHIELD issue 7,62mm rounds from his rifle.

He activated the UV beam on his rifle and two more flying enemies were reduced to ashes.

Chaos.

Horded of heavily armed ninja and blood fiends leaping everywhere, coming out of the shadows, being cut down and reduced to ashes. His teammates recuperating from the initial attack that already took out four of them. They were getting some offense back.

He saw the headless corpse of the one they called Zombie. From living dead to just _dead._

Damn it.

He saw Bloodstone disarmed and swarmed by more men-bats. He used his UV ray again, killing three of them, she punched, kicked and clawed the others off her. She caught his eye.

Bloodstone: "Thanks, guv."

Castle: "Don't mention it."

Then, another explosion shook the warehouse. It was right near Bloodstone and she was flung away by the blast.

Solo teleported above the vamps who ambushed Bloodstone and took them out with a long burst. More ash. The Castle heard Solo say: "Fuck this."

And Solo teleported. He appeared next to Gorilla Man and they both vanished. The same with Bloodstone. And Carter. And Gorilla Man.

Solo was evacuating the wounded. Castle knew that there was a chip in his brain allowing him to do that. It had to take its toll on him to do it that often.

Castle and the others did their best to cover Solo while-

The Muumy's chest and head exploded. Direct hits from high explosives.

Castle saw four ninjas with M-16s equipped with M-203 grenade launchers. A 20 mil explosive shell from his rifle took them out.

Soon, Solo evacuated the others.

And finally, Castle found himself suddenly in one of the SHIELD jets.

He saw Domino take the jet up. Turn it towards the warehouse and push a button.

Huge UV ray projectors flooded the location with light. No vamps would have survived that. And soon, the jet zoomed away, followed closely by the Howling Commandos' jet. He noticed that were not heading towards the temporary safehouse.

Then he heard Warwolf's voice on the radio: "We're heading to a Helicarrier. We need to regroup, tend to our wounded. Zombie and Mummy are gone. Gorilla Man's hurt pretty bad."

Domino: "Carter, Bloodstone ad Blade are still alive, but pretty messed up. Solo's recovering from all his 'porting. We'd ALL be dead if it weren't for him. We really got our asses kicked."

Silence. Then:

Castle: "Anyone notify the authorities?"

Warwolf: "I did. FBI and NYPD are on the way."

Silence.

Domino, turning to Castle: "How bad was it, Frank?"

Castle just looked at Domino. She closed here eyes for a second. And nodded.

The sight of those skinned, dead children would be forever burned into his memory.

That, and the weight of his failure to save them.

He soon heard the proximity alert and saw the Helicarrier, getting closer and closer.


	8. Chapter 8

Once their crafts were docked and cleared by security, the wounded were taken away to sick bay.

Castle and his remaining allies were soon greeted by two people.

A man in SHIELD uniform wearing a bowler hat and a bushy mustache. A man that had to be in his eighties, but moved with a purpose and determination of a younger man.

Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan.

The other was a slender, stunning woman with all jet black hair except for an odd whiter streak.

The Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine.

No sign of the agency's famously cantankerous, cigar chomping, one eyed director Nick Fury.

"Nick's away on assignment." Dugan said. "Sometimes he forgets that he's boss and that he doesn't have to do everything himself."

"Sometimes." The Contessa countered.

Dugan: "Well…most of the time." Pause. He looked at the troops. "You guys look like you've been through hell."

Warwolf: "We got creamed, Dum Dum."

Dugan:" You must have known it was gonna be a goddamn ambush."

Castle: " There were children at stake, Dugan."

Dugan paused. There was some empathy in his eyes when he looked at Castle. Dugan was also a war veteran. He left the obvious unsaid. "Yeah, I heard. Welcome aboard, Castle, by the way. Glad to have you with us on this."

Castle: "Yeah."

Dugan: "Warwolf, Frankenstein, Nina, Solo, Domino. Take some time to clean up. Try to rest up. Grab some chow. I'm gonna have a chat with Castle."

Solo clapped Castle on the shoulder. They exchanged a nod and a look. More obvious things left unsaid.

Soon, Castle was in Dugan's office.

Castle sat in the chair opposite Dugan's desk. Dugan took out a bottle of Jack Daniel's and two glasses. He filled the two glasses. He offered Castle one. The vigilante hesitated and took it. He stayed away from alcohol as much as he could. He kept his mind clear and cold for the war.

He took a sip. The warm beverage burned his throat. The sting made him feel alive if only for a second. Reminded him that he was once human.

Dugan: "You know, every now and again, Nick and I discuss guys like you, Solo, others. We debate whether or not we should recruit you or not. You guys are loose cannons, that's putting it lightly. But you're trained. Tough. And hardcore believers."

Dugan chugged down his drink: He poured himself another drink. And went on: "Being a believer can be a bonus. It can also be a…liability." Dugan paused. "What happened to you and your family, I've seen it happen countless times. It's a huge wound. And every time you see something bad, it's like ripping your stitches open. It has to mess you up. It has to fuck with your head. Your clarity."

Castle: "You have me all wrong, Dugan. Each atrocity committed does exactly the opposite of what you say to my clarity. I've been at it for over 30 years. Not as long as you, but I've done my share. There is no other way to deal with these bastards. Seek and destroy. Systematic extermination. They murder and main. They deal in poison. They sell women and children like they were cattle. Dugan…These yakuza fucks kidnapped those children, drank their blood, snapped their necks and skinned them just to get to us. Just because they _could_. "

Castle paused: "They must suffer and die, Dugan. They can't get away with this. They just _can't._"

Dugan: "So what's your plan?"

Castle: "Find Natakomi and kill him. Kill everyone of his ghouls. Kill anyone that anything to do with death of those kids. Kill every last one of them."

Dugan sighed wearily: "You can't do this alone."

Castle: "It will be easier with some back up."

Dugan:" We're not the invincible agency we seem to be. We're spread thin. Between cyber-terrorists, mutant terrorists, Skrull worshipping scientologist doomsday cults-not making this up, Hydra, AIM, Ultimatum and super-natural threats…We're lacking in manpower and resources. The Howling Commandos…they were our best shot at this. Maybe call on some of the super-heroes…"

Castle: "Fuck the super-heroes, Dugan. They're not what we need. Working with the spandex crowd is always a waste of time. You end up arguing and fighting with them about what needs to be done. They wanna tie these guys up and leave them for the cops. Those yakuza assholes need killing. Period."

Dugan: "I hear you, Castle. Trust me. Maybe in a few weeks, we might-"

Castle: "We don't have a few weeks. We suffered losses, but so have they. We took out a large part of their army. We have to keep hammering them. If we let them rebuild their forces, all this horror, our dead soldiers, our wounded, will have been for nothing. We'll have start all over."

Dugan sighed again: "I'll see what I can do. We always have some freelancers and reservists for situations like this. I'll talk to Japanese intelligence as well. I can't make any promises."

Castle:" I can."

The vigilante stood. Put his nearly untouched drink down.

Castle: "I appreciate the talk, Dugan. That's not something I get to say that often, so when I say it, I mean it. I appreciate your honesty, so I'll be honest as well: with or without you, I'll finish this thing with Natakomi."

Dugan's eyes met with Castle's and didn't waver:" I know."

Castle stepped out of Dugan's office.

Minutes later, Castle found Solo in a canteen.

Solo: "All they had were these Microwave Hungry Man dinners. Well, all they had that seemed edible, anyway."

Castle sat down opposite him.

Solo: "Warwolf, Price, Frankenstein and Domino are in a debriefing with the Contessa. Didn't feel like a conference. And I was hungry. How'd it go with Dugan?"

Castle: "SHIELD can't help. Short staffed."

Solo, took a bite from his dinner, washed it down with some Diet Mountain Dew: "As bad ass as we are, we're gonna need more troops if we wanna take the war to Natakomi."

Castle: "I know."

There was a pause.

Solo: "You didn't kill those kids, Frank. Those assholes did."

Castle: "We failed to save them."

Solo: "Don't go down that road, it's not gonna do you any good. I know it's probably a catholic thing, but guilt solves nothing at this point. Those pieces of shit wanted to mindfuck us. They almost did. As cold as this may sound, those kids were doomed as soon as those fuckers laid their eyes on them. We couldn't have seen this coming."

Castle: "Yeah."

Another silence.

Solo: "I want to crucify those sons of bitches too, Frank. I mean, those kids… But for that, we're gonna need an army. Or someone crazy enough with enough of a grudge to want to follow us in this war."

Something clicked in Castle's mind.

Castle :" Or both."

Solo: "Huh?"

Castle: "I have to verify something. Thanks, Bourne."

Castle stood up and stormed away.

Solo, confused: "Yeah…uh…Anytime."

Castle had a glimmer of an idea. Maybe-maybe…

He went back to Dugan's office.

Dugan: "Castle? Hope you didn't come back to finish your drink, 'cause I-"

Castle: "What do you have on the underworld scene in Japan?"

Dugan: "What?"

Castle: "There no such thing as total takeover, Dugan. Even over here at the peak of Fisk's career, there were independent outfits doing business here and there. Surely, someone has a truce or is resisting Natakomi's onslaught. Can you find out who?"

Dugan was following: "You're thinking of cutting a deal with those guys to bring down Natakomi. Makes sense, but most of them are scared shitless of him."

Castle: "Maybe. But I'm thinking of one guy in particular."

Castle spoke the name. Dugan nodded.

Dugan: "A longshot worth looking into, I'll see what I can find out."

Thinking about a solution diverted Castle's mind from the horrific images of those children. He-

Focus.

A small beep sound was heard. Dugan pushed a button. "Yeah. Dugan."

Voice: "Sir, the operatives from the Reavers assignment are back."

Dugan: "Great news. Send them to my office as soon as they get on-board." To Castle: "Might solve part of the manpower problems."

Four armoured people walked in the office a few minutes later. Three of them had helmets and took them off. The other merely wore a mask.

Dugan: "Some introductions are in order. Frank Castle, The Punisher."

Talk black man, short cropped hair, strong features. The face of a man who'd seen combat before. His armour was mostly green and he had his helmet under an armpit. "Curtis Elkins. Code named Sentry."

A blonde haired white man, smoother features. His armour was blue and silver: "Max Taylor. Screech."

A woman, white, pretty, short brown hair: Her armour was gold. "Jennifer Stewart. Wysper."

Castle recognized them: "You used to be the Jury. You were vigilantes. You hunted down the symbiotes. There used to be more of you."

Sentry: "Well informed."

Castle: "I hear about new vigilantes, I try to find out as much as I can, in case I run into them."

Sentry: "Sound strategy."

Castle: "I think so."

Sentry: "Yeah. We were doing fine on our own, but Fury thought we could do more good with SHIELD. Most of us agreed. A couple of our members went to business on their own. Another is still around, mostly doing tech work."

Punisher nodded and looked at the fourth individual. A tall man, brown hair, also wearing gold armour. No helmet.

Dugan: "This is David North. Maverick. Mutant. Energy based powers."

North: "Pleased to meet you Castle. Surprised, but pleased."

Screech, to Dugan: "Yeah. I don't wanna be the judgemental one, but what is one of America's top fugitives doing in your office, boss?"

Wysper: "We used to be criminals too, until Fury cleared our records."

Screech: "Yeah, good point."

Dugan: "Thanks for the reminder, Stewart. I'll brief you."

Dugan and Castle exposed everything that happened, from that Osaka, to what happened to the slaves in the container, to Connecticut and the recent horror with the children.

Sentry: "We're in."

Dugan: "Good. Go get acquainted. Castle, I'll work on what we just discussed."

The Punisher, Maverick, Sentry, Screech and Wysper walked out.

Soon, they met with rest of the team. Maverick and The Jury were familiar with the Commandos and Domino. They hadn't met Solo.

Minutes later, Solo: "I knew of those guys. The Jury. Pretty tough guys. Almost Iron Man level armours. Military trained. Former Guardsmen for the Vault, super-villain prison. Long standing beef with Venom. Good to have on this war. Heard good things about Maverick too. We coulda done worse."

Punisher: "Yeah."

Solo: "You have a plan, do you?"

Punisher: "I do. But Dugan has to confirm something first."

An hour later, Dugan called Castle back to his office.

It was confirmed.

When Castle came out, Solo looked at him.

Solo: "You're almost smiling, Frank."

Castle: "We have a shot at winning this thing."

Domino: "Finally, a lucky break."

Warwolf: "What do we do."

Castle: "This is your command, I don't wanna take it away from you."

Warwolf: "We're the ghoul experts, but you're the gangster expert. These assholes were gangsters way before they were vamps. This isn't about pride. This is about getting the job done."

Nina Price: "This obviously means a great deal to you. And you know your business."

Solo: "Ok, enough of this stalling. What's your plan?"

Punisher: "I'll tell you in the plane. We're going to Japan."


	9. Chapter 9

NATAKOMI ESTATE

OUTSKIRTS OF OSAKA

Sato Natakomi was surrounded by a few of his lieutenants. They all wore business suits and had folders before them.

Some of them were vampires, like Natakomi, others weren't. All were either loyal or deathly afraid of Natakomi and that didn't make a lick of difference to the Yakuza lord.

Natakomi: "How is the entertainment branch, Takagi?"

Takagi: "The pedophile clientèle is exploding. Our specialty motion pictures are selling quite well. Same for the snuff pornography. As far as the slavery goes, we are expecting more merchandise from the Philipines, Thailand, Romania…Numbers have increased considerably over the last fiscal quarter. For our local hostels in all of our major cities, numbers have gone up as well. We even managed to make a hefty profit with the blackmail income."

Natakomi, pleased: "Good. How about our law enforcement problems, Ishigura?"

Ishigura: " There was another attempt to infiltrate our organisation. The detective and all the members of his immediate family are prepped for your iron maidens. Same goes for his handler and his boss. For the others, the bribes are in place and everything is as it should be."

Natakomi, with a smile of pure relish: "Perfect."

Natakomi allowed himself a moment to think of that new, fresh blood for his next bath. And how he would drink from those fools who thought they could stop him.

Natakomi: "Ishigura, speaking of blood…"

Ishigura: "The newest blood reserves have been acquired. The appropriate bribes have been given to our usual friends in the health care system. We should have enough for the next few months."

Natakomi: "State of the competition. How are things in that department, Hando?"

Hando: "Still no rumours of anyone challenging your power, except for…"

Natakomi: "That…fool in Aragishima?"

Hando: "Yes, sir. He refuses to yield his territories. His soldiers are fiercely loyal."

Natakomi: "That bastard. Let him hold on to his scraps. Sooner or later, he will pay for his insolence."

Natakomi nodded and took a very deep breath.

Natakomi: "Final order of business: New York. How is…the hostile takeover coming along, Watanabbe?"

The man responsible for the "New York file", Watanabbe, cleared his throat: "Things are not going well. It would seem that ambush did attract the people we needed to get rid off, but all of our strike force was lost."

Natakomi: "Hmph. Figured as much when I didn't receive news. Do we know about their losses?"

Watanabbe: "We still suspect the Punisher. There may be others. We're not able to confirm that. Even our informants in law enforcement can't seem to be more precise."

Natakomi, exhaled loudly: "Very well. We'll have to put that on hold for now. It has cost us a lot of money and…human resources. New York will have to wait. We have to massively recruit new soldiers. Tell our street level people to acquire more of the young bikers and call out to other assassin clans. And mercenaries. Meeting adjourned, gentlemen."

Natakomi was anticipating his blood bath. It made him smile and aroused him, which is why he always had a half dozen whores ready in his room afterwards.

As for his New York enemies. He knew not to underestimate and also knew he would hear from the soon enough.

IN THE AIR

BETWEEN NEW YORK AND OSAKA

In the special SHIELD issue aircraft, The Punisher and allies were zooming towards the land of the rising sun.

Castle was thinking of his plan. A very simple plan. It only required an ad-hoc alliance he hoped would succeed.

He was lost in thought and thinking of a Plan B when he heard Solo chuckle next to him.

Castle: "What is it?"

Solo: "I was just thinking of how we actually have a multi-racial operation here. Mutant, vampire, werewolf and baseline human. And…whatever Frankenstein is."

Castle: "Yeah."

Solo: "You think of what would happen if this plan of yours didn't work? You have a plan B?"

Castle: "I was working on that."

Solo: "Yeah. I think I pretty much have an idea of what your Plan B is."

Solo told him.

Castle: "That's pretty much it."

Solo: "Figured. Well, I got your back on this, Frank, no matter what. Anything to put an end to those fuckers."

Castle: "Thanks, Bourne."

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

PRIVATE AIR STRIP, OUTISDE OF OSAKA

NIGHT TIME

Castle and his allies got out of the plane. They were greeted by a group of Japanese men and women dressed in black. They may have seemed like ordinary business men, but in their walk, their movements.

These were soldiers. No wasted motion or energy. Feline grace and confidence. Eyes sharp and cold as a sword.

Castle and Warwolf were side by side greeted by a man and a woman. The man was almost six feet tall, seemed to be in his early forties. Small goatee. Smooth features but hard eyes. The woman, one or two inches shorter, short hair, slender features, but eyes like the man's.

The woman: "I am Miho Kibota. This is Robert Takiguchi."

Warwolf: "Vince Marcus. This is Frank Castle."

Kibota, deadpan: "A vigilante. Interesting."

Warwolf: "I feel jealous. You don't find this-"

He changed into his werewolf form.

Warwolf: "Interesting."

Kibota: "Not really, no. But practical."

Warwolf: "Geez. Tough crowd."

Kibota: "Fascinating group you have here." She scanned the group. Spent an extra beat on Frankenstein and Nina Price. "Very…mixed. And your plan is…creative. Inspired."

Castle: "I just want the plan to work. And rid the planet of Natakomi."

Takiguchi, Speaking for the first time: " That we can all agree on. He is a pure monster. Evil incarnate."

A trio of vehicles approached. Two SUVs and a limousine.

If Castle guessed right, this was the last piece of the puzzle.

A few bodyguards got out of the escort SUVs and opened the limo. And a man stepped out.

The man went to join Castle, Warwolf, Takiguchi, Kibota. Everyone tensed up a bit.

Except Castle. He just looked the man in the eye as he approached. And the man met his look.

Kibota: "Misters Marcus and Castle, allow me to introduce Harada Kenuichio. Which you know by the name of Silver Samurai, leader of the Yashida Clan."


	10. Chapter 10

Wearing his trademark silver colored samurai armor, his demeanor cool and controlled, Silver Samurai was indeed imposing. Almost intimidating. Almost.

Castle knew this was a gamble. But it was worth trying.

Silver Samurai, to Kibota: "You wanted me here and promised a solution to all of my problems. What is the meaning of this? Why am I here with SHIELD agents and the Punisher?"

Kibota: "I will let Mr. Castle explain himself. He wanted this meeting after all."

Castle: "As far as Yakuzas go, you're pretty tolerable."

Silver Samurai: "Tolerable."

Castle: "Yeah. You don't sell hard drugs, you're not into the slave trade, no porn either. None of the nasty stuff. You don't murder cops or civilians. A real role model."

Silver Samurai: "I am not amused and will not-"

Castle: "Don't interrupt me."

Silver Samurai bristled at the tone. His men were getting antsy. So were the spooks. And Castle's team. The tension was thick.

Sliver Samurai: "How dare you-"

Castle: "You're in deep shit and you know it. It's the reason you showed up. You couldn't afford not to come. You're losing money and soldiers. Your operations are threatened by someone I came here to eliminate."

Silver Samurai: "Natakomi." There was venom in the tone.

Castle: "Yeah. Him. His army of killers is faster, stronger and more durable than anything you've ever encountered and they're kicking your ass."

Silver Samurai: "Say you are right. What then?"

Castle.: "We bring him down."

Silver Samurai looked around: "You're proposing an alliance. To topple that demon."

Castle: "Yeah."

Silver Samurai: "What does my organisation stand to gain from this?"

Kibota took over: "The underworld in our major cities in chaos, because of Natakomi. The streets are drenched with blood. He has slaughtered everyone in his path. One man, a strong leader, could take his place and take over. Bring some order to all this chaos."

Takiguchi: "You have everything to gain from this. You help us rid our nation of this demon, as you rightfully called him, you take his place. We can even help you set up your organisation provided you steer clear of all the 'nasty stuff', like Mr Castle said, and help us stop those who don't share your principles and sense of honor."

Castle knew that Harada fancied himself a man of honor and by appealing to that, it would them getting him on the right side of the war.

Silver Samurai was silent for a while. He was tempted. Castle could sense it. He knew how the criminal mind worked. The promise of power was like the Holy Grail for guys like that. For all his bullshit, Samurai was a mob boss first. And he couldn't turn down such an opportunity.

Silver Samurai: "What is your interest here in this venture, Mr Castle?"

Castle: "Natakomi tried to take over New York City. We stopped him for now. But a lot of people got hurt."

Images assaulted Castle's mind for a second.

Slaves being savaged in a container on the docks.

The children from the school bus. Not to mention some good soldiers dead and wounded.

Castle: "You become a big shot here. Kibota and her people do their duty and rid their nation of a vicious criminal. I stop a threat to my city. Everyone walks away happy."

Warwolf: "In other words, big man: help us, help you. And we can take that bastard down."

Kibota: "For that, we need your strength and your sword to send Natakomi back to the hell from whence he came."

Castle had to admire the female spook. She knew what buttons to push and how to speak Harada's language.

Silver Samurai took a second to think.

_Meanwhile, among Castle's allies_.

Maverick, whispering: "It's funny."

Domino:" What is?"

Maverick:" I heard of this Punisher guy, like everybody else. All you hear about is his skill in combat, how he's a balls to the wall suicidal nutjob. I finally meet him, and he's playing diplomat with spooks and gangsters. And not nearly as nuts as everyone claims he is."

Nina Price:" He's a brilliant tactician."

Solo: "You have to be. When you fight a war by yourself, guns and guts won't cut it alone. Some brains help sometime."

Domino: "I didn't expect him to be this…human, I guess."

Maverick: "How so?"

Domino: "After Solo got us out of that warehouse, with the kids…I asked him how bad it was. I looked in his eyes. I expected rage, hate, cold hollowness. I saw all that, but there was also a huge sadness. And guilt. He's fighting this hopeless war for a better future and he takes each failure personally."

Maverick: "Reminds you of someone, I guess."

Domino: "Yeah. Nate."

Solo: "Nate?"

Domino: "Cable. He can be so hard and ruthless at times. But then he surprises you with a glimpse of humanity. Castle is a bit like that. "

Frankenstein: "Deep within the monster, beats the heart of a man."

They all looked at him.

Frankenstein: "What? I can do more than just loom ominously, you know. My brain does work. Whoever this brain used to belong to was pretty smart."

Nina Price: "We knew that, big guy."

Maverick: "If nothing else, my life got much more interesting the last few hours." Pause "Wonder what Samurai is gonna answer."

_Among the Jury_:

Curtis Elkins, Sentry, his ebony features frowning: "There's something about that Miho Kibota."

Screech: "Yeah. She's sexy bad ass. I feel it too."

Wysper: "Down boy, we might have to activate the cooling system in your amor around your crotch area."

Screech: "Jealous? Would you want to the object of my attentions."

Wysper: "Please. These suits don't come with barf bags."

Sentry: "Kids. Quiet or I'll send you home without dessert."

Wysper: "What did you really mean, boss?"

Sentry: "She's not all she claims to be."

Sentry puts on his helmet for a few seconds. "Yeah. I thought so."

Wysper: "What is it?"

Sentry: "You'll know soon enough. I wanna see where Samurai is gonna stand."

After a minute or two of thinking, Silver Samurai turned towards Castle, Warwolf, Kibota and Takaguchi: "All right. I accept your alliance."

Kibota: "A very wise choice, Harada-san. Now, Mr Castle. Why don't you expose your plan?"

Sentry: "Hold it!" He's closing in on Kibota.

Castle: "What is it, Elkins."

Sentry: "I'll fight with you in this war, Castle, because you've been straight with me and crew. Ms Kibota, though…"

Without further warning, Sentry sent a punch at Kibota's head. The punch was to fast and too powerful for any human being to dodge and absorb.

Kibota put her hand out and caught Sentry's fist. Her arm bent slightly to absorb the blow.

Kibota's people tensed up. So did the rest of the people present.

Sentry: "Cyborg."

Kibota, smiling: "Guilty as charged. There a few cyborgs, enhanced soldiers and even mutants in our organisation. Am I transparent enough now, Mr Elkins."

Sentry: "I'm done." And he walked away, back next to his comrades.

Maverick: "Hell of a gamble, Elkins."

Sentry: "Don't tell me that a guy code named Maverick is afraid of a little gambling."

Maverick, smiling: "Touché."

Castle: "Enough bullshit. We don't have much time. We have a war to win."


	11. Chapter 11

TWO WEEKS LATER:

OSAKA

NIGHT TIME:

A taxi stopped in front of a building. A woman stepped out. The place looked like a closed restaurant. She went around the back, into an alley. There wasn't a sound except her heels on the asphalt. There was a cool breeze, but the woman wasn't bothered, despite her skimpy, low-cut dress, her body not covered by a jacket.

She found a steel door and knocked on it.

A slit opened up. She handed over money. Spoke the right words. The door was opened and she was let in. Led to a stairwell by her armed escort who took his time checking out her body.

She saw another door. It was opened.

It was a clandestine casino.

Loud music. Tables. Whores.

She sat down at a bar and looked at her watch. She ordered a drink. She finished it. Looked at her watch again.

It was time.

She went over to man doing security work.

She smiled at him.

Then her hand shot out at blinding speed, fingers first, hit the man in the adam's apple, continued through the throat, oesophagus, larynx, cervical vertebrae and the head flew off. It, and the rest of the body turned to ashes.

Vampire.

Among the ashes, a pistol, a 9mm Beretta 92. She grabbed it.

More men were coming at her. Cursing, yelling. Three men. She pivoted 180 degrees and fired a headshot for each of them.

Two of them turned to ash. One simply had his brain violently ejected from the back of his cranium.

It was enough to send the gamblers into a panic and they all were running towards the exit.

The woman jumped and landed on top of the bar.

A dozen armed men came out of the woodwork, holding MAC-10s, HK MP-5 sub machine guns.

She stood on the bar. Offering an easy enough target.

They fired.

She was gone. She leaped above the volleys of automatic fire, over the running crowds, towards the shooters.

She fired six times.

Six headshots. Four piles of ashes. Two half beheaded men.

She landed on the floor.

Three of the remaining six rushed her. Fangs out. Eyes full of hate and bloodlust.

Standing her ground, she performed a spinning heel kick that took their heads off. More ash.

Before she completed her movement, she aimed her pistol at the last three and they each took a head shot. They collapsed with shattered skulls.

She grabbed one of her victims' submachine guns and fired at the bottles of alcoholic beverages.

She dropped her weapon, calmly walked back to the bar. Pulled out a Zippo lighter, flicked it open and dropped it. It ignited the liquids and a fire was born.

Miko Kibota looked at her watch. A smile of cold satisfaction appeared on her face.

It was just the beginning.

She calmly went to the exit, leaving the burning casino behind.

OSAKA

NATAKOMI'S ESTATE

Natakomi was bathing in the blood of his enemies once again. The iron maidens above his head spilling fresh blood on him like a hard rain.

He never tired of that.

He opened his mouth and drank up. It fed him. Aroused him.. Drove him mad with pleasure. He laughed.

He always felt like a god at times like these. Untouchable. Indestructible.

All powerful.

Then something happened unspeakable happened.

He was interrupted by one of his men.

Natakomi:" Nakahiro. You should know better than to disturb be at times like these."

Nakahiro:" Forgive me, my lord. I come with startling news."

Natakomi: "What is it?"

Nakahiro: "We are under attack, my lord."

Natakomi: "What do you mean? Where?"

Nakahiro: "Everywhere, my lord."

Natakomi, shaking his head in disbelief: "What?"

Nakahiro: "Everywhere. Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo…all of our major operations are under attack. Our men slaughtered. Our merchandise destroyed or freed. We are under attack."

Natakomi: "That's impossible. All at once?"

Nakahiro: "Yes, my Lord."

Confusion, then anger took over the Yakuza boss. "Who dares-"

Nakahiro's cell phone rang: "Yes?" Pause. "It's for you, my Lord."

Natakomi: "What?" Natakomi took it. "Who is this?"

A voice in heavily accented Japanese: "Natakomi Sato. Your time has come to pay for your crimes. Tonight, you face judgement. Tonight, you face…Punishment."

And the line was cut.

An American voice. Punishment.

Natakomi whispered the name: "The Punisher."

And suddenly alarms were blaring and Nakahiro's phone rang again.

He was here.

------------------------------------------------------------

Outside, above the estate, two crafts. The SHIELD transport and one furnished by Japanese intelligence.

The Punisher, Solo, Domino, Maverick, The Jury, The Howling Commandos were in one. Along with Robert Takiguchi.

In the other, the Sliver Samurai and one hundred of his fiercest warriors.

Solo: "Reports coming from all of the strike teams. Missions accomplished or on the way to being so."

The Punisher: "All right. We're gonna land. Solo, Domino, Price, Warwolf and I are going in. North entry. Samurai and his boys are hitting the east and south. Jury, give us air support. Takiguchi, you hit the west. Frankenstein, Maverick, cover our entry."

The plane's door opened. Sentry, Screech and Wysper, suited up and jumped out boot jets allowing them to take flight. Before jumping out, Sentry had some words.

Sentry: "Castle. Good luck."

Punisher: "You too."

Takiguchi was also wearing full body armor. He was eight feet tall with it. It looked like a traditional Samurai armor. Red chest plate, gauntlets and boots. The rest was silver. It was made of some of the hardest metals on earth and was loaded with offensive and defensive weapons.

A new version of the Red Ronin armor. A Stark-tech level weapons system.

The Red Ronin jumped out as well.

Solo briefly smiled. Castle saw it.

Punisher: "What is it, Bourne?"

Solo: "If this gig hadn't sucked out most of my sense of humor, I'd laugh. Fighting along side Red Ronin, Sliver Samurai and 100 angry ninja. This is all too Kurosawa."

Punisher nodded.

The looked through the windshield. Giant bat-winged men were leaping towards them. The Jury, armed with plasma weapons, sonics and ultra-violet beam projectors were taking them on.

There were ground troops assembling. SUVs filled with armed guards.

Frankenstein-carrying a MK-19 40 mm machine gun- and Maverick carrying his SHIELD issue 7,62mm/20 mm hybrid.

The bird went down, Frankenstein went out without a word.

Maverick: "It's been fun, guys."

And they went out.

Sounds of war began soon after.

Castle looked at his group. Solo, Domino, Nina Price, Warwolf.

The Punisher: "Let's finish this."


	12. Chapter 12

GROUND SUPPORT:

Maverick saw three SUVs coming his way, loaded with men. Guns sticking out of windows. His armor absorbed the hailstorm of bullets. He retaliated by giving them each a high explosive 20 mm round, blasting apart the trucks. And whoever was inside.

He saw dozens of black clad assassins pouring out of the house coming towards him and Frankenstein. All of them armed with submachine guns and assault rifles.

Maverick: "Peckinpah time, big man."

Frankenstein: "Let them come. Let this tidal wave crash against our rock solid resolve."

Maverick: "You're a poet. Let them have it!"

Frankenstein fired a burst of 40mm HE and fragmentation projectiles and Maverick did the same with his 20mm. Thunder and lightening crashed down on the army of assassins.

Many of them dodged and leaped over their fallen comrades, now reduced to ashes and fired back.

A fully automatic burst shot the weapon out of Maverick's hands.

No matter.

His mutant power was to absorb kinetic energy and fire it back in explosive bolts. His hands started glowing red and energy beams shot out of his hands. Taking down several adversaries at a time with explosive force.

The others kept coming and soon he was swarmed.

A huge concussive deflagration emanated from Maverick, sending the ninja flying up and away from him. He kept them away with his energy blasts.

Meanwhile, ninjas were also piling up on Frankenstein. He lost his weapon in the melee.

They were flung away, like with Maverick, but by sheer brute force.

Others were jumping him.

He grabbed two by the neck and pulled their heads off, along with their spinal cords and all became ash.

He grabbed another by one shoulder and one leg and tore him in two and threw the halves away.

He punched a hole through another one's chest, turning the enemy into ashes.

He grabbed another by the ankle and swung him like a club, crushing the skulls of six more. Then, like Bam Bam in the Flinstones, Frankenstein smashed his improvised club against the ground.

Maverick, defiant, screaming: "Come on! Is that all you got?"

And more vampire ninja came.

Frankenstein: "There's your answer, North."

WEST WING:

Holding a SUV over his head in one hand, bullets were harmlessly bouncing Red Ronin as his shoulder mounted .50 caliber Gatling gun was strafing the opposition.

He tossed the truck at another one coming at him. The crash was cataclysmic.

He also had wrist cannons launching explosive projectiles.

Two more SUVs were destroyed.

Dozens of gunmen were falling, torn apart by burst of 50 cal. BMG rounds.

SOUTH WING:

Channelling his energy in his sword, the Silver Samurai was relentlessly cutting apart Natakomi's hordes, while his men were fighting, dying, killing, screaming in hate or agony. They fighting their way into the large house.

Samurai: "Back to HELL, you soulless demons!"

His armor absorbed bullets and sword strikes. He still felt them, but that only fuelled his rage and resolve further.

Samurai: "Victory or death! There shall be no surrender!"

NORTH ENTRY

The Punisher took out six of the inside house security with a 20 mm projectile.

After blasting through the main entry, the house's defensive forces were pouring out of the woodwork, seemingly endless.

The house was being rocked by explosions from his entry team and probably his allies inside and outside the house.

The lobby had become a war zone. A pocket version of hell. Complete with fire and fanged demons.

Warwolf, wolfed out, was tearing into the enemy forces with claws and fangs.

Solo, using his skills and teleporting powers, was popping up all over the place, taking down his fair share of tangoes.

Solo, while shooting his targets: "You like to murder kids, huh? Terrorise innocent people? Well, I'm Solo, you bastards! Where I live, terror DIES!"

Domino was firing single shots and double taps with her rifle and was always scoring, no matter in the enemy was running, jumping, ducking or leaping. Was it skill or her luck powers ? Maybe both.

Nina Price had also taken her lupine form, taking a real bit of the enemy.

The Punisher was doing his part the old fashioned way. No powers. No tricks. Aiming and firing. Hunting cover. Checking ammo.

The Punisher: "Cover your eyes!"

He tossed a sphere. There was an explosive of light. It was a UV flash bang. Several vampires turned to ash.

Some of the guards were human.

Punisher didn't discriminate, they went down as well, strafed by automatic fire.

One of them was still alive. He was wounded and bloodied.

Punisher: "Natakomi."

The man coughed blood.

Punisher, again. "Natakomi."

The man shook his head. He wasn't gonna talk.

Nina Price, changing back to her human form.: "Allow me."

She bent down, grabbed the man's face. Soon, the man went wide-eyed. And started talking.

Castle understood right away. Hypnosis.

Sometimes powers did come in handy, it seemed.

Domino, translated from the Japanese: "He's in the basement. Something about a blood bath…?"

Warwolf: "Probably likes to bathe in blood. Like Elisabeth Bathory back in the day."

Solo: "Sick fuck."

Nina Price was still making the man talk. Domino kept translating. "Elevator in the living room."

More goons came.

Domino: "Geez. How many of these does he have here?"

Solo: "You go, Frank. We'll cover you."

The Punisher: "Thanks, Bourne. Guys. Good luck."

Solo: "Just get the fucker, Frank."

The Punished nodded and left, hearing more sounds of war coming behind him.

He encountered more thugs on the way, a half dozen. A 20mil took care of them.

Soon, he found the large living room. An obscene display of wealth. Built and murder. The blood of the innocent.

He took it. He went down.

He could not escape the feeling of a descent through the many circles of Hell.

He had a special cannon sheathed on his back, like a sword. He held his rifle in one hand and the other weapon in the other.

Basement. The door opened.

Torches going only one direction. His right. He followed it.

The place felt like a tomb. Like catacombs. It smelled like death.

Soon, there was the confirmation.

Skeletons shackled against the wall. The walls were covered with them.

Some adult sized. Some child sized.

Natakomi's food.

Soon, the skinned, dead children appeared in front of Castle's eyes. Instead of freaking or getting the shakes, it made him harder, colder. Angrier.

Soon, he saw it.

The iron maiden's dripping with blood. And a large…tub filled with blood. The stench…all this blood. Castle had to focus so he would gag on the sheer smell of-

With blinding speed, a shrieking figure came from beneath the blood, armed with a sword, straight at the Punisher.

He was faster than any of the others Castle had encountered before. And Castle lost his rifle. And the katana, in an impossibly fast and strong strike, hit Castle in the neck.

And Castle went down.


	13. Chapter 13

The Punisher's body crashed on the ground after taking a super-strong katana strike in the neck.

But the head was still attached.

The sword wielding, blood soaked vampire yakuza boss was stunned and for one split second hesitated.

Many people called The Punisher crazy. That could very well be. But he wasn't stupid. You don't take on a psychotic vampire with super-human strength without taking some precautions, especially when you have SHIELD to loan you some gear. Like a Kevlar body suit, with ceramic plating in the chest and neck area, the whole thing lined with vibranium to absorb impacts. The force knocked him down, but Castle barely felt the blow.

Natakomi made two mistakes. He underestimated the Punisher and he hesitated.

A 12-inch stiletto came out of Castle's right boot. And Castle stuck it into Natakomi's groin. A trick he stole from Blade. He asked SHIELD techs if they could make him those "stiletto boots". They did.

Natakomi bellowed in sheer agony. Punisher moved his foot so the blade would twist in the yakuza lord's testicles, increasing the pain.

_I hope it hurts, you_ fuck.

Castle then pulled out the twin 9m Glock 18s he carried under his armpits and fired two bursts of special, super-hot armor piercing rounds. One at each elbow, blowing the forearms clean off. As the fell, they turned to ash.

The scream that came out of Natakomi was less than human. He was angry and it pain.

Castle got up, picking up his special handcannon, which he dropped when Natakomi jumped him. It looked like a 40 mm grenade launcher, but it wasn't.

Castle jogged away from Natakomi, still screaming and bleeding from his wounds. When he was a few feet away, he fired.

A net was deployed and caught Natakomi which such force that he took off from the ground, flew over his pool of blood and it stuck into a wall.

A net made of carbonadium metal. Almost as hard as adamantimum. Natakomi was never going to break that.

Natakomi was already starting to regenerate. His groin wound was beginning to bleed less.

Natakomi: "I will tear you lib from limb, Castle!"

Castle: "English? Probably figured you'd need it when you took over New York, right? Sorry to put a dent in your plans."

Castle was slowly walking towards Natakomi. Natakomi was feeling better, stronger, more arrogant.

Natakomi: "So full of rage, Punisher. In fact, you should rage against yourself. You're a failure. You failed to save those poor children in that school bus, just like you failed to save your own all those years ago."

Castle: "You may be right. And one day, judgement will come for me for those failures. Right now, I succeeded in destroying your empire. All of your major operations are being destroyed, and I already picked someone to take your spot. Silver Samurai."

Natakomi lost some of his arrogance. And got angry again. Castle soon was next to him and pulled out a needle. And he injected Natakomi with it.

Natakomi: "What is that? Poison? Truth serum? My blood and metabolism are strong, it won't affect me."

Castle: "I had my doubts about that. But it is a special concoction SHIELD cooked up. They have to interrogate super-humans sometimes. Healing factors, unbreakable skin, impervious to pain…So they came up with this. I can't pronounce the name. It acts like Ecstasy, in a way. It increases your sensory input tenfold. And this stuff is strong. They used it to break supers many times. I've seen videos. Guys as big and strong as the Hulk crying like babies."

Castle stood and watched. Natakomi was squirming against the net. His wounds were hurting more, despite the fact that they were closing up.

Castle: "It's been a while since you felt pain like that, right? In the end, all of you gangsters and super-villains are the same. You think you're above the rest of mankind. That the world owes you whatever it is you're after. And you think crushing innocent people is the way to get it. Welcome back to the human race, you sack of shit. You're helpless, you're in pain and no longer in control. And trust me, this is only the beginning. I've waited a long time for this."

Natakomi, eyes full of agony and pure hate: "Coward…Free…me…and I will…rip…you…apart…"

Castle: "I don't like your tone."

The Punisher pulled small pliers from his gear. He tore Natakomi's tongue out. It turned to ash. The ugly gurgling noise Natakomi made filled Castle with pitch black joy.

Castle: "You mentioned those kids. There were thirty of them."

The Punisher then pulled out each and everyone of Natakomi's teeth with his small pliers.

Castle: "I'm grateful you're so strong and resilient, means you won't pass out from all the pain."

Natakomi was nearly mad with pain. Castle saw he was beginning to break. The Punisher pulled out a bowie knife.

Castle: "So, those kids. Those kids had butchered like so much meat. You had them skinned, right?"

Gurgle. Spittle.

Castle: "It's what I thought. Let's see how _you_ like it."

The Punisher didn't know how long he was at it. But he slowly and carefully skinned Natakomi and soon stood before a grotesque bloody mummy.

Castle: "Here. A souvenir. Keep the knife."

And he stabbed the vampire Yakuza lord in the genitals with it.

He then pulled what looked like a small flash light.

Castle simply said: "UV light. Low intensity."

He randomly ran the beam of light across the skinless, crimson puppet before him. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air. It didn't affect the Punisher one bit. And he continued. For a long while. He stopped short of killing him.

Then, he stopped.

Natakomi was gone. Still alive, but_ gone_. Insane from the pain.

The Punisher shot Natakomi in the head. And watched him turn to ash.

It didn't seem like enough Punishment, but it would have to do.

He spoke into his radio. "I'm coming back up."

When he was back upstairs, he saw his allies and Silver Samurai.

Kibota was there. She wasn't supposed to be on-site. How long had Castle's…moment with Natakomi lasted?

Kibota shook Castle's hand. And he spoke: "Thank you, Mr Castle. Your presence was the catalyst needed to end Natakomi once and for all."

Castle: "Yeah." And he turned towards Samurai. "Better stay away from the nasty stuff. Otherwise, I'm coming for you."

Samurai: "I don't like threats, Castle."

Castle: "Good. Because that wasn't a threat. It was a promise."

He turned away and walked out.

It was time to go home.


	14. Chapter 14

EPILOGUE

SHIELD HELICARRIER

ABOVE NEW YORK

SOME TIME LATER

Castle wasn't big on goodbyes. But, he took the time just this once. He couldn't have finished this battle without his allies. The wounded were healed. Blade was already gone, being as much the social animal Castle was.

Domino: "Can't say it hasn't been interesting, Frank."

Curtis Elkins, of the Jury: "Maybe we'll meet again."

Maverick: "Any more jobs like that, I'm your man."

Elsa Bloodstone: "Cheers, guv."

Gorilla Man: "See ya around."

Nina Price: "Nice working with you."

Warwolf: "Likewise."

Frankenstein: "Goodbye."

Solo: "Anytime you need back up, brother, I'm there."

Dugan: "Thanks for the assist, Castle."

Castle: "Likewise, Dugan. Everyone."

Sharon Carter: "Come on, I'll drop you off."

Carter let him go near on of his safehouses.

Carter: "Watch yourself, stay frosty, soldier."

Castle: "You too, Carter."

The Punisher went back to his safehouse. Alone.

He turned on his computer. Check his e-mails. Things haven't slowed down when he was gone. People were still fighting to fill the vacuum. Many of his informants had tips for him.

Drug dealers. Pimps. Hitmen. Smugglers.

Business as usual.

Loading up with guns and gear, Castle went out.

No rest for the wicked.

The war went on.


End file.
